Cessation and Permanent Resident Status in Canada: Apply for Citizenship Now to Protect Your Status!

By Downtown Legal Services, in collaboration with East Toronto Community Legal Services

What is Cessation?

Cessationis when a person loses their status as a Convention Refugee or a person in need of protection. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration can apply to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) for a cessation order. The IRB makes a cessation order if it decides that a person does not need refugee protection any more. In some cases, under the more recent immigration laws, a cessation order can lead to the loss of your permanent residence status as well. A cessation order based on any of these reasons will result in the loss of permanent resident status:

the person has voluntarily gone back under the protection of their country of nationality (for example, by travelling back to the country, or getting a passport from that country)

the person has become a citizen of a country other than Canada (for example, applying for citizenship in the home country or a new country)

the person has voluntarily become re-established in their home country (e.g. by living or working there).

In some cases, a cessation order can be made if conditions have changed in a refugee’s home country. This could happen, for example, if the reasons that a refugee had to leave the country no longer exist. However, such a case will not automatically cause the refugee to lose their permanent resident status.

What does Cessation mean for you?

If you are a successful refugee claimant, you should not travel back to your home country, or apply for/use a passport from that country (particularly where the state was the agent of persecution) until you receive Canadian citizenship. If you do so, you could risk losing your status in Canada.

Refugee claimants who have received permanent resident status should apply for citizenship as soon as they are eligible.

Canadian Citizens cannot lose their status for these reasons. It is important to apply for Canadian Citizenship as soon as you are eligible. But, because of a new law that is now in force, people with dual citizenship or people who have the availability of dual citizenship through marriage or their parents, can lose citizenship if:

they serve as a member of an armed force or organized armed group engaged in an armed conflict with Canada; or

are convicted of terrorism, high treason, or spying offences, depending on the sentence they receive.

(Note: claims can also be vacated if the government believes a Convention refugee or permanent resident has directly or indirectly withheld or misrepresented materials facts in becoming a Convention refugee. This applies even once a person becomes a citizen. The ‘Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act’ does not change this.)

Citizenship: Am I Eligible?

Permanent Residents may be eligible to become citizens if they:

are over 18 years old

are a Permanent Resident (PR) whose PR status is not in question

meet the residency requirements (ex: you have lived in Canada for 3 of the last 6 years)

show that you have filed your income taxes for Canada

declare that you intend to live in Canada during the application process

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Information on OWJN is not legal advice

OWJN contains general legal information only. OWJN does not give legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should contact a lawyer, who can help you make decisions about your legal rights. You may be eligible for legal advice from a community Legal Aid clinic.